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While on Flyertalk today, I saw an interesting post about a different British Airways 100,000 Avios offer that awards 100,000 Avios without a hefty minimum spending requirement. This one seems to only be available if you are booking a flight on British Airways, and doesn’t seem available to everyone, but was available when I tried. This offer isn’t brand new, but is worth mentioning now as an alternative to the other 100,000 Avios British Airways Card offer. I did a test booking and was offered 100,000 the Avios offer, and it did not list a minimum spending requirement. It had the requirement of paying a $75 annual fee (which is less than the $95 annual fee on the other current offer). It awarded 50,000 Avios on the first purchase with the card (which presumably would be your BA ticket), and then 50,000 more Avios at the one-year anniversary with the card. So, to get the full 100,000 Avios you would need to pay the $75 annual fee twice and wait a year for the second half of the bonus, but you would be able to skip the $20,000 spending requirement to get the full bonus, as opposed to the other 100,000 Avios offer.

What’s the catch? Well, in theory the offer is intended for those who are booking tickets on British Airways. However, it seems that there is a way to obtain the great offer without actually purchasing a ticket and I recommend following the Flyertalk thread referenced above for more info.

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[…] considering either the publicly available limited-time 100,000 British Airways Chase offer, or the alternate version available to those who purchase a British Airways ticket, as Avios are looking more and more […]

[…] 25,000 more after $10,000 in spend, and 25,000 more after the next $10,000 in spend… some folks have luck making a dummy booking on the BA.com website, getting all the way to the purchase phase, and […]

[…] in the case of a first class award, that’s a confirmed three-cabin upgrade. (Some folks have luck making a mock booking on the BA.com website and getting an offer for 50,000 points now and 50,000 […]

Now that it’s discussed on FT, there is a chance it will get pulled especially because it is competiting with the regular 100K BA current offer. Also there is now a chance that the fee could go up from $75 per year for this offer to the regular $95/year as Chase has been known to monitoring FT recently and pulling offers.

@CanadianMillionMiler, that is certainly always a possibility. Though, if used as intended, the offer should be around for a while. Heck, it clearly already has been around for a while. I think it is great marketing to go after those who are already spending $$ on BA tickets. If I needed a BA ticket, I would very strongly consider this offer……sooner rather than later, just in case.

@Mommypoints, Many of FT are already talking about buying a fully refundable ticket. If many are doing that, there is a good chance the offer will be pulled or they will tweak it. So for those who wants the card, I would advise to get it quick as there is a chance it could be pulled with the publicity on FT 🙂

The funny part is, the people who are trying to scam BA by buying a refundable ticket, are probably the same people who troll blogs thinking they are the mileage and points police telling bloggers they are ruining deals for everyone by making them public. The truth is, it’s scams like taking a legit offer that people buying tickets would get and doing the refundable ticket that ruins deals for everyone. I hope they don’t pull the offer for legit BA customers getting in on the deal because they are flying, and take away the bonus miles for all the people doing this scam. I got in on BA’s 100k deal last year, so this isn’t sour grapes on my end.

@CandianMillionMiler, yeah. I’m not recommending that route myself, but you are right that widespread use of that route could bring “tweaks” or worse to the offer. As always, if an offer is right for you, don’t wait unnecessarily.

This might be a good one for people that have been turned down by Chase recently as they will automatically be turned down and they don’t have to proceed with the transaction but call Chase reconsideration line the next day and have them reconsider thru shuffling credit limits of other cards. I had this card from last 100k promo, so I will pass for now.

Great find and it is certainly a good option for people who have no real hope at hitting the $20,000 spend. I’ll be looking for some cheap BA flights to take advantage of. I’m just hoping the people buying fully refunded tickets don’t ruin the deal before then!

Search for transatlantic flight JFK-LHR. Proceed to payment page, you should see an invitation to apply for Chase BA card. At the top of application there will be a link asking if you want to pay for the ticket with your EXISTING card (which is different from BA card). Click “yes”. At this point you can fill out Chase BA application and cancel the ticket.

here’s how to get the offer for 50k now and 50k after one year. i did this a few minutes ago so i know it works. a little labour-intensive, but worth the payoff. just follow the directions closely:

1. open an incognito window on google chrome.
2. go to the BA site and search for a one-way flight from chicago to london on an upcoming saturday (i chose june 23). it should price out to around $1400.
3. hit continue a bunch until you get to passenger details.
4. enter your details on this page. you MUST select YES that you are the name on the card that will be paying.
5. you should come to a screen that says “earn 100,000 avois” which gives you the option to apply for the card. if you instead came to the payment screen, CLOSE the incognito window, open a new one and repeat.
6. choose “Yes, I’d like to pay for this flight using my new card.” you will NOT actually have to pay for the flight. click on apply now.
7. it will show the details of your flight along with a big price. hit “continue to credit card application.
8. after you complete the application, you will be taken to a screen (hopefully telling you that you were approved) which will confirm that you have not yet bought the flight. it will redirect you to the payments page. just close the window, and you’re safe.

As far as I am concerned British Airways AVIOS points are useless. Frankly this is SCAM.
I transferred to them 160,000 RBC AVION points for 50% bouns and practically I lost everything. Virtually it is impossible to book any flights using these points.
Andy

About Summer

Well, I am a married mom in my mid-30's. I have two rock star, adorable, beautiful, fantastic, mischievous, humorous, smarter-than-my-own-good girls. One is currently 7 going on 17 and the other is closing in on her 2nd birthday. I am obsessed with my adorable and insane kiddos, and also obsessed with earning and using airline and hotel points and miles to show them the world on a budget we can afford. Learn more about Summer

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